Monday, January 16, 2023

San Juan de la Cruz: Poesias Completas

So many questions, and so many of them the same questions I have been asking for decades.  Who is this beloved, the love in which San Juan allows himself to be subsumed?  Is it something within him, or something larger, something Divine?  Is it different at all from the love of another human, or of oneself? Or is it just the same human ecstasy with another cloak?  Is all religion, all love even,  just a mask for something within us?  Are we making it all up?  Whatever it is, where and how can I find it?

The overarching question as I read this though, was, "Did it really happen?" Did San Juan actually succeed in surrendering himself to this ecstatic love, whatever it was?  Or is this entire conceit aspirational, wishful thinking, "Wouldn't it be nice if . . ."?

Kwame Alexander: The Crossover

 Well this one is on my "To Teach" list forever.  Everything about it is ideal for teaching: the characterization, plot, thematic elements are exactly at the sweet spot where a student could see them with the right amount of work.  The form too is perfect for teaching, almost as though it were written by a curriculum committee.

But the real triumph of this book is the believability.  Somehow a grown man perfectly captured the minds of my young students on paper.  This doesn't sound like an adult trying to write in the voice of a teenager.  Every page could easily have been written by one of my students, and not one of the advanced ones.  The mistakes, the cliches, the immaturity, all perfectly captured and relatable in a way that borders on miraculous.

 Of course it's no miracle.  It's skill.  Nonetheless, it's perfect and I can't wait to see what comes out of young minds when they read it.

Rocky

 Choices, choices, choices.  What interesting choices were made here.

On the surface, this is a straightforward allegory.  The scrappy young protagonist, armed with nothing but the virtue traditional to every American movie of this sort--pluck, grit, spirit, heart, whatever mask it wears--is oppressed by the machine of wealth and business.  No matter what they take away from him, or how they try to keep him in his place, that virtue cannot be squelched, and ultimately, somehow, he triumphs.  The American Spirit cannot be defeated, and though tragedy and hardship are unavoidable, all is well.  The hero is rewarded with love, wealth, and victory.

Except for one choice, this would be every movie of that type, serviceable for an endorphin rush, but utterly transparent and unimaginative.

In every other movie of this sort, the villain, the oppressive symbol of an unjust and corrupt system, would be an old, rich, white man.  Why on earth was the choice made to cast a black man?  Was the intention to turn the trope on its head? Was the choice written into the script?  If so, that is the whole point of this movie.  It is not Rocky who carries the message, but Apollo.  The system is not the villain here, but the very idea of success and wealth.  As Rocky is here, Apollo once no doubt was.  He was the plucky underdog, oppressed by the system, equipped only with an unsquelchable spirit.  Pluck.  Grit.  Drive.  Will.  Determination.  Nothing could beat that out of him, no oppressive system, no unfair riggery of the game.  The only thing that could take his virtue was success itself, just as it inevitably will for his younger counterpart.

Ramón Gómez de la Serna: Las Proximas Greguerías hasta 600

 

Esas bombillas que se encienden y se apagan parecen castañuelas de luz.

These bulbs that flicker on and off seem to be castanets of light.

 

Todo el drama de algunos films es que la doncella se olvidó de cerrar las persianas y se vio todo desde la calle o desde el jardín.

The entire drama of some films is that the maiden forgot to close the blinds was seen by all from the street or the garden.

 

Los que van mucho al cine acaban teniendo un párpado nictitante.

Those who go o the cinema a lot end up having nictating membranes for eyelids.

 

El alabastro es tan carnal, que podría gastar camisa.

The alabaster is so fleshly that it could wear a shirt.

 

El murciélago está hecho con alambre y con piel de ratón.

The bat is made from wire and the skin of a rat.

 

Cuando con la pluma se hace un enredijo de líneas sale una masa encefálica.

When one makes a squiggle of lines with a pen, brain matter appears.

 

Los lirios crecen en bandada y vuelan de valle en valle.

The lilies grow in a flock, and fly from valley to valley.

El mono tiene su humorismo en el rabo.

The monkey’s humor is in its tail.

 

Optimista es el que toma judías con chorizo y no le pasa nada.

An otimist is one who eats beans with sausage, and nothing happens to him.

 

La eternidad envidia a lo mortal.

Eternity envies the mortal.

 

Trigonometría es andar por el más difícil de los alambres y el más peligroso de los trapecios.

Trigonometryy is walking the most difficult of tightropes, and the mos dangerous of trapezes.

 

La pulga hace guitarrista al perro.

The flea turns a guitarist into a dog.

 

Con el margen blanco y engomado que sobra a los sellos debían franquearse los anónimos.

We must seal anonymous letters with the blank margins and leftover paste of stamps.

 

El que grita en la conferencia: «¡Más fuerte, que no se oye!» no se sabe si es un saboteador, un sordo, o un admirador excesivo.

We don’t know if he who shouts, “Louder! I can’t hear!” at the conference is a saboteur, deaf, or a crazed fan.

 

El plátano es el único pez sin espinas.

The banana is the only fish without bones.

 

Los cementerios están llenos de panteones de los que «serieron los últimos».

Cemeteries are filled with the mausoleums of those who “laughed last.”

No se puede citar la ostra como modelo de aburrimiento,  porque siempre está muy entretenida esperando que le crezco una perla.

We can’t use the oyster as a model of boredom, for it is always fun waiting for a pearl to be formed.

 

El lector--como la mujer--ama más a quien le ha engañado más.

The read--like a woman--always loves they who deceive the the most.

 

El tiempo sabe a agua seca.

Time tastes like dry water.

 

El besugo parece haber salido del mar con el limón debajo del brazo.

The sea bream seems to have come out of the sea with a lemon under its arm.

 

--¿Por qué corren tanto las nubes al mediodía?

--Porque van a su casa a comer.

--Why do the clouds run so at noon?

--Because they’re going home to eat.

 

El gran conflicto medicinal es cuando no se sabe si esas píldoras son para tomadas antes o después de comer.

The greatest conflict in medicine is when one doesn’t know whether to take those pills before or after eating.

 

Al prender el fotógrafo el magnesio, el humo que asciende parece la subida al cielo del alma inmortalizada en la fotografia.

When to photographer lights the magnesium, the rising smoke seems to be the rising of the immortal soul lin the photograph to the heavens.

 

El poeta puede decir: «El pájaro que canta quisiera saber de quién es el cielo.»

The poet can say, The singing bird would like to know to whom the heavens belong.

 

Pañuelo en el violín, violín de peluquería.

Handkerchief in the violin, violin of a hairdresser.

 

El limpiabotas nos ofrece catafalco para los zapatos.

The shoe shiner offers us a bier for our shoes.

 

La frase que más reúne la vida y la muerte es la de: «¡Estoy hecho polvo!»

The phrase that best unites life and death is, I am worn to dust.

 

Era tan susceptible que creía que se reían de él las dentaduras postizas de los escaparates.

It would be as gullible as believing the dentures in the shop window were laughing at you.

 

El látigo traza en el aire la rúbica del tirano.

The whip traces the tyrants signature in the air.

 

El verdugo es igual al antropófago: los dos matan para comer.

The executioner is the same as the cannibal: both kill to eat.

 

«¿En la muerte se sueña?»: he aquí el terrible problema.

Does one dream in death? Herein lies a terrible problem.

 

Un caballo blanco desnudo de arreos parece estar ya en la explanada de la muerte.

A white horse without a harness seems still to be in the esplanade of death.

 

Es bonito ese gesto con que la mujer, cuando enhebra la aguja, le retuerce el bigote al hilo.

Its beautiful, that gesture of a woman threading a needle, twisting the moustache into a point.

Hay una paloma extraviada que se creyó paloma mensajera y a mitad de camino se dio cuenta de que se había equivocado.

There is a lost dove that thinks itself a homing pigeon and, midway on its path, realizes that it has made a mistake.

 

El estornudo es la interjección del silencio.

The sneeze is the interjection of silence.

 

La mariposa, posándose en todas las flores, es la mecanógrafa del jardín.

The butterfly, posing on each of the flowers, is the typographer of the garden.

 

En las órbitas de la calavera se ocultan los ratones de la muerte.

In the eye sockets of the skull, the mice of death hide themselves.

 

Dormía con la boca abierta como si fuera un paleto de los sueños.

He slept with an open mouth, as if a redneck of dreamland.

 

El murciélago hace parpadear la luz de atardecer.

The bat makes the light of dusk flicker.

 

Los ángeles de la guarda de los músicos debían pasarles las hojas de las partituras.

The guardian angels of musicians have to turn the pages of the music.

 

Las golondrinas abren las hojas del libro de la tarde como incesatnes cortapapeles que nos han traído de Alejandria.

The swallows open the pages of the book of the afternoon like unending paper knives brought to us from Alexandria.

 

El rico y el pobre hacen un gesto similar los dos, como si sacaran la cartera; pero ¡con qué diferente significado, sin embargo!

The rich and the poor both make a similar gesture, as if to take out their wallet, but with what different meaning!

 

Siempre que nos enfurruñamos nos sale un pelo en el entrecejo.

When we sulk, we leave a hair in the middle of our brow.

 

Los pasodobles debían tener dos autores.

The pasodoble needs two authors.

 

Si el ascensor no estuviese prendido a su cordón umbilical, se evadiría de la casa.

If the elevator was not connected to its umbilical cord, it would leave its house.

 

La señal más verídica del buen tiempo es ver a un alemán con un divieso en la nuca.

The surest sign of a good time is to see a German with a blister on the nape of his neck.

 

Lo más tierno del cuarto de toilette es ver al peine cardado en el cepillo.

The tenderest thing in the powder room is seeing a comb nestled on a brush.

 

Terrible día ese al que se podría llamar «el día de la inauguración de la diabetes».

Such a terrible day that one could call it The first day of diabetes.

 

El pan duro es como un fósil recién nacido.

Hard bread is like a recently born fossil.

 

El paraguas puesto a secar abierto en el suelo parece una tortuga de luto.

The umbrella set to dry on the floor looks like a tortoise in mourning.

 

Las hojas que caen son participaciones que el otoño nos regala para su rifa.

The falling leavaes are tickets the autumn gives us for its lottery.

 

El fotógrafo de jardin toma aspecto de toro bravo cuando se mete debajo del paño negro y parece embestir con el unicornio del objetivo.  Un día sucederá que el matador de toros aproveche ese momento y se tire el lance de matarle a bastón.

The photographer under his black cloth looks like a bull charging the unicorn of his objective.  One day a matador might take advantage of this moment to try and throw his cane to kill him.

 

Esas dos letras de la máquina de escribir que se enlazan y se montan en el aire revelan que se aman.

Those two letters on the typewriter that entwine and mount each other in the air reveal that they love each other.

 

Al fruncir el entrecejo parece que nos ponemos los lentes invisibles de la perscpicacia y de la gravedad.

To furrow ones brows seems like wearing the invisible glasses of insight and gravity.

 

El cabello con la cabeza baja mientras pace parece estar leyendo el paisaje como un corto de vista.

The horse with its head down grazing looks like it is reading the landscape while shortsighted.

 

La ñ dice adiós con su pañuelo a los niños y a los ñoños.

The ñ bids farewell to the children and dull-witted with its handkerchief.

 

--¿Los peces lloran?

--Los peces no necesitan llorar, porque el mar es pura y salada lágrima.

Do fish cry

Fish do not need to cry, for the ocean is already a perfect, salty tear.

 

La ü con diéresis es como la letra malabarista del abecedario.

The ü with its dieresis is like the juggler of the alphabet.

 

El termómetro parece haber sido hecho con la mala intención de que no veamos la línea de la temperatura. ¡Qué bromista!

The thermometer seems to have been made with the bad intention of not letting us see the line of the temperature.  What a jokester!

 

 Las costillas nos sirven para situar los dolores.  «Me duele entre ésta y ésta.»

Ribs let us locate our pain.  It hurts between here and here.

 

Esos puros que van dentro de un estuche de celuloide son como cepillos de dientes.

Those cigars that come in celluloid cases are like toothbrushes.

 

 La bata de baño hace frailes a las mujeres, ¡pero en seguida cuelgan los hábitos!

The bathrobe turns women into monks.  But they immediately hang up their habits!

 

Cuando recogemos el guante caído, damos la mano a la muerte.

When we pick up a fallen glove, we give our hand to death.

 

No sé por qué la I mayúscula ha de quedarse sin su punto.

I dont know why the capital I had to leave itself without its dot.

 

 Las camelias son condecoraciones más que flores.

Camelias are more decorations than they are flowers.

 

 

 El pingüino, con la servilleta puesta, está esperando la hora de la sopa del Juicio Final en las playas antárticas.

The penguin, with its napkin ready, is waiting for the the hour of the soup pf the final judgement on Antarctic beaches.

 

Los arcos de triunfo son elefantes petrificados.

Triumphal arches are petrified elephants

 

Lo peor de los médicos es que le miran a uno como si uno no fuera uno mismo.

The worst thing about doctors is that they look at you as if you were not yourself.

 

Los barcos llevan la chimenea ladeada, como si se hubiesen puesto la chistera a lo chulo.

Ships carry their smokestacks tilted to the side, as if wearing a top hat set at a jaunty angle.

 

El que aprende qué hora es las «diecinueve y cuarenta y tres» puede viajar lo que se le antoje.

He who learns what time 19 and 14 and 3 is can travel wherever he wants.

 

Hay nubes que llevan una carta urgente y otras que van a la batalla de las Termópilas sin saber que llegan tarde.

Some clouds bring an urgent message, and others arrive at the battle of Thermopylae without realizing they are late.

 

El desierto se peina con peine de viento; la playa, con peine de agua.

The desert combs its hair with the wind; the beach, with the water.

 

Las gallinas picotean el suelo como si comiesen pedazos de estrellas que cayeran del cielo.

Hens pick at the ground as if eating pieces of stars fallen from the sky.

 

Que pequeño era el tiempo en su reloj de pulsera, que nunca tenía tiempo para nada.

The times on ones wristwatch are so tiny that one will never have time for anything.

 

Las golondrinas entrecomillan el cielo.

The swallows put the sky in quotation marks.

 

La luna tiene un deseo voraz de gastar monóculo, y ya ha pensado en el anillo de Saturno, que ella no sabe que la iba a venir grande.

The moon has a voracious desire to use a monocle, and has thought of Saturns ring, that she doesnt know it was going to be too big.

 

Sillas de tubo metálico; sillas para esqueletos.

Chairs of metal tubes: chairs for skeletons.

 

El que pide un vaso de agua en las visitas es un conferenciante fracasado.

He who asks for a glass of water when he visits is a failed conference speaker.

 

Los atriles están indignados por cómo los maltrata con la batuta el director de orquestra.

Podiums are indignant at the mistreatment they get from the conductors baton.

 

Todos los días del Limbo son domingo.

Every day in Limbo is Sunday.

 

Un automóvil pintado blanco no es un automóvil, es un curato de baño.

An automobile painted white is not an automobile, but a bathroom.

 

Los que matan a una mujer y después se suicidan debían variar el sistema: suicidarse antes y matarla después.

Those who kill a woman and the themselves need to vary their technique: first kill themselves, and then the woman after.

 

No hay nada que enfrié más las manos que el saber que no hemos olvidado los guantes.

There is nothing that freezes the hands more than knowing you have forgotten your gloves.

 

El camello es el animal más orgulloso de la creación, orgulloso hasta de su joroba.

The camel is the most arrogant animal in all of creation, proud even of its hump.

Toda gota nace para estalactita, pero cae sólo como mortal gota.

All drops are born to be a stalagtite,  but fall only as a fatal drop.

 

Las conchas de las playas son los restos de los arroces que se come Neptuno.

Seashells on the beach are the husks of the rice that Neptune has eaten.

 

El Creador guarda las llaves do todos los ombligos.

The Creator holds the keys to all navels.

 

Hay los escritores de títulos largos, y los de títulos cortos.  Los que titulan una cosa Él, y los que la titulan El hombre que sacaba el reloj y después comía sentado.

There are writers who use long titles, and those who use short ones.  Those who title something He and those title it The man who took out his watch and then sat down to eat.

 

No conviene pintar ya a las brujas montadas en una de aquellas escobas ordinarias que, generalmente, eran escobas que habían barrido mucho.  Las brujas modernas deben ser representadas sobre una escoba aviónica, con el volante de la dirección en el mango y la hélice al final.

Its not advisable to these days to paint witches riding on one of those brooms which, generally, have swept a lot.  Modern witches should be depicted on a avionic broom, with a steering wheel on the handle and a propeller in the rear.

 

La gasolina es el incienso de la civilización.

Gasoline is the incense of civilization.

 

Tenía orejas ideales para sostener el lápiz, y por eso hubo que dedicarle al comercio.

He had ears perfect for holding a pencil, and for that reason had to dedicate himself to commerce.

 

El que lleva su taza para repetir es como un pobre que pide con platillo.

He who brings his cup for a refill is like a beggar with a platter.

 

 

Los animales de la selva, cuando hablan de los que están en los parques zoológicos, los llaman, despectivamente, «burócratas».

The animals of the forest, when they speak of those in zoos, call them desparagingly, burueacrats.

 

Al pintarse los labios con la barra ce carmín parecía encerrar entre paréntesis un beso posible.

To pant ones lips is to enclose a possible kiss in parenthesis.

 

Los pájaros de pico largo parece que están fumando el cigarro de su pico.

Birds with a long beak seem to be smoking it like a cigarette.

 

El bebedor con paja se va tornando pájaro, y hay un momento a últimos de verano en que ya lo es realmente.

The drinker with a straw has turned into a bird, and there is a moment at the end of summer when that becomes reality.

 

Hay unos peces flechas en el mar que señalan a los grandes peces el camino que deben seguir.

There are arrow fish in the sea that signal to the larger fish which way to go.

 

El defecto de los pisos interiores es que los cuchillos están siempre sin filo, porque no se puede llamar al afilador que pasa.

The problem with interior floors is that the knives (struts) are always dull because they cannot call out to the sharpener passing by.

 

Era una noche con medias de seda negra.

It was a night with black silk stockings on.

 

Las chimeneas eran el confesionario del corazón de las mujeres; pero ahora, con los radioadores, no se confiesan nunca.

Chimneys were the confessionals of women, but nowadays, with radiators, they never go to confessional.